SemileptonicBdecays into excited charmed mesons from QCD sum rules

Exclusive semileptonic $B$ decays into excited charmed mesons are studied with QCD sum rules in the leading order of heavy quark effective theory. Two universal Isgur-Wise functions τ and ζ for semileptonic $B$ decays into the four lowest lying excited $D$ mesons ${(D}_1,$ $D_2^{*},$ $D_0^{\prime },$ and $D_1^{\prime })$ are determined. The decay rates and branching ratios for these processes are calculated.